Clock bank



July 30, 1929.

CLOCK BANK A. M BELFIELD Filed Aug. 8, 1925 gnaw;

Patented July 30, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANDREW MILLER IBELFIEIL'D, OI CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB T WILLIAM D.PEN- NINGTON AND JOHN B... PENNINGIDN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

C OCK NK Application filed A1181! 8, 1925. Serial No, 49,141.

My invention relates to clock banks, and

partlcularly to coin controlled ClOCk banks.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide asimple,practical and effective construction of clock bank.

Another object of the invention is to arrange for the control of thedevice by a coin so that the device will be useful only when coins aredeposited in it from time to time for saving.

Another object of the invention is to assure the deposit of the coinused for controlling the bank and so prevent the bank from. beingcontrolled for continued and repeated running by a single coin, therebyassuring saving of the coins.

In theaccompanying drawings Fig, l is a view of the rear of the upperportion of a clock bank embodyingmy present invention;

Fig. 2 is a view of the front of the same;

Fig. 8 is a cross sectional view taken on line 3-3 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1 with a portion of thecasing of thebank removed.

Referring to the drawings I show a bank having a casing 1 containing aclock 2 whose face 2" appears through an aperture or opening in thefront of the bank casing.

The clock winding stem 3 projects from 30 the back of the bank and isprovided with a thumb piece 4 by which it maybe turned. A coin slot 5 isalso provided in the back of the bank casing for-the insertion of'cojinsto be used to control the bank.

The winding stem 3 is broken, as shown in Fig. 3, and composed of twoparts 3* and 3* whose ends are toothed or serrated so that they may fittogether to form in substance a single operative stem, it being apparentthat the stem 3 is inoperable for purposes of winding the clock when thetwo parts are separated, as shown in Fig. 3, but may be used for thatpurpose when said two parts are joined together by the intermeshing orlocking of their toothed ends, as by pushing the stem portion 3 inwardlyagainst the spring 7 which tends topush' and maintain said stem portion3 in an outward or retracted position.

The stem portion 3 is normally held against inward motion by a triggeror locjking device 8 in the form of acbe'll crank lever pivoted at 9,one end 8 of which device 8 fits in a groove 10 in the stem portion 3.The other end 8 of the bell crank 8 proin elevated position. The weightand force of the coin, however, swings said member 8" downwardly so thatthe coin may pass by its end down further into the coin chute and in sodoing the bell crank member 8 is,

swung down the groove 10, thereby releasing stem portion and permittinginsertion of said portion 3 inwardly, and when said stem portion ispushed inwardly so as to connect with the other stem portion the clockmay be Wound by turning the winding key 3.

The device is arranged, however, so that this winding of the clockautomatically causes the deposit of the coin, thereby assur ing thesaving of the coin and preventing it from being used again for thepurpose of effecting" a winding of the clock. To this end a coin holdingdevice 13 preferably in the form of a bell crank lever pivoted at 14 isprovided, one end 1.3 of said device being held by spring-l5 against theend of the coin chute 11, as a result of which arrangement the coinafter having dropped into the chute and swung the lever 8 downwardly,falls and rests upon the end of arm 13 and is held in position by sucharm, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. l. In this position the lever arm8 is held in a swung down position, thereby permitting the'clock to bewound a full Winding or any predetermined extent of winding. WVhen thiswinding is accomplished the coin holding device 13 is actuated however,so as to swing the member 18 downwardly and permit the coin to drop intothe bottom of the clock casing, or into some suitable receptacle,thereby assuring the deposit and saving of the coin and preventingitfrom 'beingused to effect a further winding or partial winding of theclock, it being seen that when this operation occurs the coin passesdown below the end of lever arm 8' and thereby permits spring 12 to pullsaid lever arm 8 upwardly and again cause lever arm '8 to engage groove10 in wind-ing stem portion 3 as soon as winding stem 3 is released, dueto action of spring 7 This actuation of the coin holding device 13 isaccomplished by a pin 17 on arm 18 carried by shaft 19 which is gearconnected for rotation with the winding stem or spring drum of theclock, as by providing shaft 19 with gear 20 meshing with the pinion 21on winding stem portion 3 As a result the winding of the clock slowlyturns shaft 19 and when the clock has been wound the full orpredetermined extent, pin 17 strikes lever arm 13 and swings it to theright, (Fig. A), thereby swinging member 13 downwardly and releasing thecoin in chute 11, so that said coin is deposited and its saving assuredand it is removed so that it cannot be used again to effect a windingoperation of the clock.

The deposit of another coin in the coin chute will similarly swingmember 8" downwardly to permit winding of the clock by winding stemthumb piece 1 and when this winding has taken place the coin will beautomatically deposited and the mechanism restored to inward positionready for the insertion of another coin to permit a further winding ofthe clock.

No attention need be paid to the coin atter it has once been inserted,nor any attention given to the clock winding mechanism,

- ranged to it simply being necessary to insert the corn and then windthe clock, the coin automatically permitting the clock to be wound afull or predetermined amount and then automatically deposited withoutfurther act or attention on the part of the user or winder of the clock.

It will be understood that changes and modifications may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A clock bank having a split winding stem, spring means tending toseparate the parts of the stem, a coin operated device normally holdingthe stem parts apart, but arranged to be tripped by the coin to permitthe stem parts to be united to permit winding of the clock and meanswhereby the turning of the winding stem deposits the C0111.

2. A clock bank having a split winding stem, spring means tending toseparate the partsof the stem, a coin operated device normally holdingthe stem parts apart, but arbe tripped by the coin to permit the stemparts to be united to permit winding of the clock and means whereby theturning of the winding stem deposits the coin, said last mentioned meanscomprising a pivoted lever spring controlled to hold the coin againstdeposit and a pin rotatable by the turning of the winding stem toactuate said lever and withdraw it from position below the coin.

3. A clock bank having in combination, a coin chute, a bell crank leverhaving one end in the coin chute to be struck by an inserted coin,spring means tending to hold said lever in position, but adapted toallow the coin to pass down the chute and be in turn held in downwardposition'by the coin, a transversely split winding stem having its partsprovided with means for connection with one another, spring meanstending to force said parts apart, one of said parts being engaged bythe other arm of said bell crank lever so as to hold it away from theother part, said lever releasing said part and permitting the stem partsto be united when said lever is struck, and depressed by a coin, asecond bell crank lever arranged in connection with the coin chute andadapted to hoid the coin in position in the chute after it has struckthe first mentioned lever and depressed the same, gear connectionsbetween the normally dlsengaged part of the winding stem and the clockcrank having apin arranged to strike the other end of the secondmentioned bell crank lever and so swing the same as to allow the coin toran from the coin chute to be deposited and also to release the firstmentioned bell crank lever, and spring means tending to hold said secondmentioned lever in position to hold the coin against deposit.

l. In a coin bank the combination of a spiit windin stem and a leverdevice arranged to be tripped by the coin and to control the separationand connection of the parts of the winding stem, and spring meanstending to separate the parts of the winding stem.

5. In a clock bankthe combination of a coin chute, a spring controlledtrigger having one end in the chute, a split winding stem one oi? theparts of which has a groove receiving the portion or"- said trigger, thelatter being, adapted to normally occupy said groove but to be moved outof the same by the deposit 01" a coin in the chute, and spring meanstending to push said winding stem part'away from the other split part.

6. In a clock bank the combination of a coin chute, a spring controlledtrigger hav ing one end in the chute, a split winding stem one or theparts of which has a groove receiving the portion of said trigger, thelatter being adapted to normally occupy said groove but to be moved outof the same by the deposit of a coin in the chute, spring means tendingto push said winding stem part away from the other split part, and powertransmitting connections between said winding stem and the windingmechanism.

7. In a clock bank the combination of a coin chute, a spring controlledtrigger having one end in the chute, a split winding stem one of theparts of which has a groove receiving the portion of said trigger, thelating stem and the winding mechanism, and fer being adapted to normallyoccupy said means operable by said connections for degroove but to bemoved out of the same by positing the coin. 10 the deposit of a coin inthe chute, spring In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe 5 meanstending to push said winding stem my name this 7th day of August, A. D.,1925.

part away from the other split part, power transmitting connectionsbetween said wind ANDREW MILLER BELFIELD.

